Carnival Cruise Lines Announces New American Table and American Feast Dinner Concepts

MIAMI (December 3, 2013) â€“ Carnival Cruise Lines is launching new dinner concepts for the shipsâ€™ main dining rooms that will begin the week of December 8 aboard the Carnival Glory. The two new concepts, American TABLE and American FEAST, reflect an increased investment by Carnival in its main dining room experience and incorporate the results of extensive testing and research conducted among Carnivalâ€™s past guests.

During the development of the new dinner concepts, the cruise lineâ€™s management team spent time interacting with the leadership at Union Square Hospitality Group, a leading New York-based entertainment, food and hospitality organization, to observe best practices and the organizationâ€™s approach to culinary excellence. Taking inspiration from that interaction, Carnivalâ€™s culinary team developed the new dinner concepts, which will be offered during a pilot period with some variation in the dishes, presentation style and other elements to gauge additional guest feedback before rolling out the program fleetwide in the latter half of 2014 and 2015. Other ships included in the pilot are Carnival Liberty beginning in January, and Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration starting in February.

Meals will begin with an extensive stand-alone cocktail menu featuring a variety of imaginative drink specialties such as the Raspberry Mojito, the Carnival Cosmo and the Sunset Serenity, which provide a unique twist on some favorite classics. Featured wines will also be offered by the glass, in addition to a wide-ranging list of wines available by the glass and bottle.

The new American TABLE experience offers a full appetizer menu including selections such as Fried Calamari, which can be served family style for the table, as well as soup and salad options. Special selections called â€˜Rare Findsâ€™ for the more adventurous, such as Spicy Alligator Fritters and Frog Legs Provencal with Herb Butter, are available as well.

â€œPort of Callâ€ entree selections are inspired by the destination on the shipâ€™s itinerary that day. For example, when calling at St Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the dayâ€™s â€˜Port of Callâ€™ entrees will include dishes such as Tropical Salad of Ripe Mango, Spicy Grilled Chicken Strips, Crispy Carrots and Red and Green Peppers on a Bed of Fresh Greens Drizzled with Tangy Raspberry Vinaigrette, and Island Chicken Curry with Potato Crisps and Sweet and Sour Mango Chutney.

â€˜From the Grillâ€™ entrees such as Pork Chop with Caramelized Onions and Stewed Apple will be available every evening to provide diners with even more variety and choice.
Every exceptional meal should end with a fun and memorable dessert and the American TABLE dining experience will feature a special dessert menu with options such as Sâ€™Mores Parfait as well as a divine pie of the day option served whole for the table and a la mode. A variety of featured after-dinner drinks will also be available.

In addition to American TABLE, a second dining concept, American FEAST, will also be offered in the main dining room one or two times per voyage on Cruise Elegant nights. American Feast has been designed to create the feel of an elegant, elaborate special occasion celebrated by all guests in the restaurant with courses served table-side in elaborate style befitting the occasion.

â€œDining has always been a hallmark of the Carnival cruise experience and weâ€™re constantly looking for new ways to provide our guests with exceptional meals and service that become a highlight of their vacation, bringing people together while creating fond memories,â€ said Mark Tamis, senior vice president of guest operations for Carnival Cruise Lines. â€œWith our new American TABLE and American FEAST concepts, we have sought to create a delicious, fun, welcoming and highly satisfying main dining room experience and look forward to our guestsâ€™ feedback as we refine the program to take it fleetwide next year.â€

Just got off the Glory Saturday. I didn't like the new menu at all. Would have just ate at on the Lido, but was not pleased with the changes that have taken place there also. The selection for the salad was minimal to non. There used to be a large amount of topping choices for your salad. Not this time. The food didn't even look good.